I think the big successes that you describe are the exception rather than the rule. I think you'll find the majority of economic success comes from simple rent seeking -- whether literally as landlord, or as financial service, or otherwise being in middle.
With all the significant increases in economic productivity that has not benefited the average American. We can see historically that as productivity has increased, the wealth of individuals has decreased. We like to think of utopia where increased productivity means we would all get to work less and have more but that isn't how capitalism works. We have made everything significantly more efficient and continue to do so but who is benefiting? For most people things are getting worse because that is actually more efficient.
> leave individuals with a minimum of taxes and government power and let them try and take the risks.
Living in a country with a good social safety net is pretty helpful for risk taking. It's a lot easier to quit your job and start a business when you don't have to worry about losing health care and potentially dying or going bankrupt.
> I think the big successes that you
describe are the exception rather than the
rule. I think you'll find the majority of
economic success comes from simple rent
seeking -- whether literally as landlord,
or as financial service, or otherwise
being in middle.
So, $1 trillion companies versus some guy
with $400K a year from 15 well run
convenience stores, .... We have a lot of
both.
> With all the significant increases in
economic productivity that has not
benefited the average American.
Maybe not in comparative terms, i.e.,
maybe the distribution curve for wealth
has not changed much.
But in absolute terms, some of what I
listed are huge benefits for "the average
American":
Nearly no one in the US would want a 1950
Ford, forced to use a typewriter instead
of a word processor on a computer, news
papers on paper instead of the Internet,
no mobile phone or Zoom, 1950s health
care, lath and plaster instead of drywall,
oak flooring instead of vinyl (cheaper and
more durable), microwave ovens, synthetic
yarn in cloth and clothing, in general, as
in the famous movie, no "plastics",
railroads and busses instead of airplanes,
no summer air conditioning, no gasoline
powered lawn mowers, no calculator aps or
pocket calculators instead of adding
machines, no computers instead of punched
cards, car tires that wear out in 20,000
miles instead of 100,000 miles, elevator
operators instead of electrically
controlled elevators, etc. ....
If you gave Americans the option of those old things but also a single income could house, feed, a clothe a family of 5 I think it might be closer than you think. It's not fair to describe what we've gained without describing what we've lost.
My parents owned different homes their entire lives. I make significantly more than they ever did and don't and could never afford my own childhood home. My children are even worse off than that.
Maybe some news source would publish a graph over time of the ratio of house prices to, say, prices of gasoline, ground beef, carrots, a wool blanket, a car, a refrigerator, etc.
We are very short on news that has credible information, gets to causes, presents like STEM field information, etc.
Also the appliances in my childhood home weren't energy inefficient but they were solid. My current fridge is full of cheap (and broken) plastic. My new stove lasted just past a year before a part that cost 1/5 the price of the entire thing broke. You can get appliances with a touchscreen but you can't get one that will last 20 years anymore.
If it wasn't for government safety regulations that 1950's Ford might actually be safer than what would be produced now without them.
With all the significant increases in economic productivity that has not benefited the average American. We can see historically that as productivity has increased, the wealth of individuals has decreased. We like to think of utopia where increased productivity means we would all get to work less and have more but that isn't how capitalism works. We have made everything significantly more efficient and continue to do so but who is benefiting? For most people things are getting worse because that is actually more efficient.
> leave individuals with a minimum of taxes and government power and let them try and take the risks.
Living in a country with a good social safety net is pretty helpful for risk taking. It's a lot easier to quit your job and start a business when you don't have to worry about losing health care and potentially dying or going bankrupt.